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Made in the UK
Made in the UK
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Tuesday 24th September 2019 at 08:40 By Olivia |
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It's the topic that is at the forefront of our minds at all times... Sales! Because let's face it, no matter how many other factors come into your business, it all boils down to sales and making money.
So here are 10 tips to help you get your first sale through your website.
A Google my Business listing is the first thing to start with in getting yourself found on Google and it's free. Getting one set up and optimising it with keywords can reap great benefits in terms of being found locally and nationally. When someone searches a term such as 'French Antique Mirror' Google will automatically look for business listings with the words 'French Antique Mirror' that are closest to you and present them to you.
If your website is brand new, it also helps you get found under your company name.
A 'Google my Business' listing also increases the trust factor among customers and potential customers, when it comes to your business because an up to date listing, full of information and reviews will come across more trustworthy than a business without one. Also, if you have been reviewed (positively) that helps with your credibility as well as they work like word of mouth referrals.
Click here to read our article on how to set up a Google My Business listing
Optimising your website, still to this day is critical, but these days it is very different from what it once was. Making your website SEO friendly is going to give you a better chance of clawing in the traffic that you wouldn't necessarily get through social media channels, email marketing, and online forums. Being thorough with your item names (H1 tags) and content ensures that you can be found on Google and other search engines for more specific search terms, as well as broader ones too. See an example below of optimising item names
Put yourself into the shoes of someone who is searching for the mirror listed above. Would you just search for Grey French Mirror? Or would you make it as detailed as possible to ensure that you aren't trawling through hundreds of websites to find what you're looking for? That's the way you have to look at it when naming items. Also, it's crucial to research popular keywords relating to your industry and include them in the text on your website. Having keyword-rich text on your website is crucial to ranking well in Google & other search engines.
Our websites are search engine optimised as standard, but it's still very important to make sure that you:-
a) Name your items well (see our guide on this)
b) Make sure you get other websites to link your website. This is what Google uses to judge how popular (and credible) your website is, and this is what will get you listed above other websites who are just as relevant to what's being searched for as your site is.
Click here to read our article on links and getting links to your website
Also, please, please, please don't trust all the scammers who will send you emails or call you out of the blue promising to get you to the top of Google for not a lot of money. If it sounds too good to be true it probably is!
Google Ads (and Google Shopping) is a really popular pay-per-click advertisement service that allows you to place adverts on almost every Google search results page, YouTube video and partner website. This is the way you 'get to the top of Google' these days and it is very effective. We have clients who have increased their monthly revenue massively by using Google Ads!
Google Ads also includes Google Shopping which is the listings in Google search results which include pictures.
By now everyone knows what Instagram is, and most people use it too so when it comes to selling it's an invaluable tool. Especially if what you're selling is visual and needs to provide a visual impact. It's a super simple and free way to get your stock in front of people and get them enquiring about it.
You can build your following simply by:
Read our articles we've created about Instagram for more information:-
Pinterest is a photo sharing platform and it's great for online promotion, as it is essentially a mixture between Google and Instagram. A search engine, for pictures!
Getting your stock onto Pinterest is great way to make your first sale as it can help you get hits from Google.
It might sound antiquated but hear me out. Email marketing is still major and is essential to getting traffic to your website. Having a list of previous and potential customers means you can get updates, new stock, and other information directly to them in the form of an email. Whereas with your social media updates, it will be impossible to reach everyone who follows you whereas with email mailshots you can do just that!
Here are some basic ideas just to get you started on how you can build an email mailing list:-
Once a month (or more if you have lots of stock) send out a mailshot with all your latest items in it. It's a really easy way to get your stock in front of clients who already know about your business, and for trade clients too.
Our websites help you send out a latest items mailshot and automatically include your latest items together with their picture, price, and a link back to your website. Best of all you can do it in 2 minutes flat!
Blogging is a gem when it comes to getting people back to your site and buying your stock. If you haven't already started a blog associated with your business then you are missing out on massive potential!
As mentioned in a previous post of mine, blogging creates trust, builds rapport and keeps people informed and keeps them coming back to your website. Especially if you share your posts on Social Media and email them out to your mailing list.
By blogging about topics related to your industry, audience and what you do, you establish authority in your field which makes you a trusted seller!
Our websites have a great blog facility built-in, so you can start blogging right now! Just ask us about our blog feature.
Online forums are a really great way to give out tips and advice in relation to your industry and as with blogging it then gives you some authority and you're able to connect with people who you might not usually get the opportunity to connect with.
Use Google to search for some active forums within the Antiques, Vintage & Militaria industry and join them, it's a great way to network and get your name out there.
Here are just a few:
Antique
Vintage
Militaria
Art
Create a buzz and let everyone know that your fantastical new website is about to go live. Share it on social media and in forums, you can even put ads in publications or have a launch event. Let everyone know your website is coming and what type of stock you're going to be selling so there is some type of anticipation and you'll already have an audience!
We also have an awesome e-book that tells you all about marketing your website. Our websites are built to support social media integration, Google Ads and lots of other features to make selling online easy. Get in contact with us today to find out how we can help.
We've got a great e-Book specifically about how to market your website. It's got lots of information on the different marketing methods, how they work and how you can use them. Click the link below to download it now!
https://www.ph9.com/downloads/marketing-tips_how-to-market-your-website.pdf
We can help you sell online easily too!
We have been helping small and medium sized independent businesses sell online easily since 2004, and we can help you too.
If you need a new website for your business, contact us on...
Click here to contact us by email
or call us on01332 896 425
As well as a hand held service, all our customers receive a copy of our marketing tips book which gives you lots of tips and advice on this on how to succeed online.
